U-Joints for 2003 Alpha One Gen 2

[Mad Props]

did you use the same measuring device on the new ones as you did for the ones that came off your drive? if not, could the calibration be off one one of them?

Actually, I had that wrong.. I just went back and rewatched my youtube video I did on replacing the ujoints and the bearing cap diameter was correct, but the distance between the internal clips was wrong...
I bought the Moog 315G u joints from the auto parts store and found out later that they wouldn't work...

I ended up using the Sierra 18-2174 u joints, so the Moog 315 u joints are NOT a good cross reference for that u joint. They are different.

 

[stormulus]

Actually, I had that wrong.. I just went back and rewatched my youtube video I did on replacing the ujoints and the bearing cap diameter was correct, but the distance between the internal clips was wrong...
I bought the Moog 315G u joints from the auto parts store and found out later that they wouldn't work...

I ended up using the Sierra 18-2174 u joints, so the Moog 315 u joints are NOT a good cross reference for that u joint. They are different.

that's interesting. I thought you had said your drive was a 95, but the part that the Sierra 18-2174 us compatible with was supposedly out of use by then.
as for the automotive references, I have no problem editing my list. as I noted those part numbers had been suggested several times although I couldn't find a confirmed use other than the Volvo 280 mentioned. which is why I noted them as suggested alternatives to compare with and measurements should be verified.

I appreciate your feedback.

 

[Mad Props]

I have kind of a weird situation... My outdrive S/N is 0F684745, but my transom plate/gimbal housing are S/N 0F658732... Not sure if its normal to have a different S/N on the drive and the transom assembly...
Either way, from what I can find, that would put the transom assembly at a 91-95 serial number and the leg at a 1996 serial number.
My boat is a 96, so could be that the stuff leaving the merc factory when the boat was build had a 95 S/N on it, but I'm pretty sure my drive was replaced so I think its not original.

Either way, my u-joints ended up being the merc 75832T1 PN or equivalent, which again, is not compatible with the Moog 315 number... not sure about the others, but I believe all the others I checked had the same dimensions as the moog number.

 

[Mad Props]

I actually did a google image search for both the 75832T U Joint and the 805536A2 U Joint and overlaid the two images in photoshop and copied it below... Its a little hard to see, but the U Joint on the bottom is the 75832T version and as you can see, the slots for the internal snap rings are just a hair closer together... When I tried using the Moog U joints which would be compatible with the 805536A2 part, I couldn't install the snap rings because they weren't through the yoke enough...

It actually looks like the cross casting is identical between the two, its just different bearing caps.

 

[stormulus]

First, I appreciate the discussion on this as I don't want to be posting bogus information. I see what you mean by the location of the clips. And please don't misunderstand me, I'm not trying to say you are wrong in any way. I spent way more time than I probably should have trying to figure this stuff out. But this is a rather peculiar situation.

I went back and looked at some of my notes on this and just double-checked a few things online. In the diagram below, parts 9 and 10 are the same on every Alpha One Gen 1 and Gen 2's from 1983 to 1997.

However Part 12, the coupler end yoke, had 2 O-rings up through Gen 2 S/N 0D869999. Those used u-joint 75832T1. From Gen 2 S/N 0D870000 through 0M400411 the coupler end yoke had 3 O-rings and used u-joint 805536A2. However if since parts 9 and 10 didn't change, it would seem that either of those u-joints should fit with either coupler end yoke, since they both also fit the gear end yoke and center socket. By the way, part 75832T1 runs about $20 cheaper. lol.

I did notice a thread from years ago where someone had posed the question about automotive u-joint parts, the standard response of the Moog 315G etc. was given by Don S. The original poster then asked about the caps sticking out 1/8" to 1/4", to which Don S. said that not uncommon.

Therefore it would seem that the list I showed earlier could possibly still be relevant.

I can't say what the situation was with you not being able to get the clips in. Could the yokes and/or center socket have been aftermarket parts and possibly not identical to the OEM version? I'm just hypothesizing, because it seems that other people got those to work with the same coupler end yoke as you should have but....I don't really know.

 

[Mad Props]

I dunno... I'm not going to say its impossible because I bought this boat used and I was told by the previous owner that parts of the drive had been replaced (I thought he said SEI) but everything says Mercruiser on it, except for maybe the lower??

I really doubt there are any companies out there making aftermarket yokes but again, I guess its not impossible...

I really don't know what to say other than the experience I had...
It seems really weird though that mercruiser would have changed the u-joint part number around 95/96 but the yoke is the same.. you would think they would have to be compatible but thats not the experience I had.

 

[Rick Stephens]

I used Moog 315s on my '91 Gen 2 drive.

 

[stormulus]

I used Moog 315s on my '91 Gen 2 drive.

Thanks Rick. Can you confirm its S/N is between 0D469859 to 0D869999?

 

[stormulus]

I dunno... I'm not going to say its impossible because I bought this boat used and I was told by the previous owner that parts of the drive had been replaced (I thought he said SEI) but everything says Mercruiser on it, except for maybe the lower??

I really doubt there are any companies out there making aftermarket yokes but again, I guess its not impossible...

I really don't know what to say other than the experience I had...
It seems really weird though that mercruiser would have changed the u-joint part number around 95/96 but the yoke is the same.. you would think they would have to be compatible but thats not the experience I had.

It is a perplexing situation. The drive units SEI currently sells have their branding on the upper but the lower doesn't seem to have any branding.

SEI and Sierra make the yokes, and even the entire assembly of both yokes, center socket, and both u-joints. SEI has one yoke that they say fits Mercruiser I, R, MR, Alpha I and Gen II (91 through 97).

And SEI also makes a u-joint to fit the OEM #75832T1. Here's their details on it:
Fits Mercruiser sterndrives
OE# 75832T 1
Greasable
1970 to 1997
Also Fits OMC Cobra, Joint Venture 1986-1997
Volvo Penta, SX
Will not Replace Mercruiser sealed u-joints.
Will not fit serial numbers above 0K999999.

 

[stormulus]

Thanks Rick. Can you confirm its S/N is between 0D469859 to 0D869999?

Never mind. When I got on my PC I noticed your S/N info, which confirms your drive number is in that range. That info wasn't showing up on my phone earlier.

 

[Rick Stephens]

Thanks Rick. Can you confirm its S/N is between 0D469859 to 0D869999?

Serial number is in my freaking sig. This is getting ridiculous. Round and round the mulberry tree.

 

[tank1949]

I don't know how many people run automotive joints - hint, it's a LOT. I am. Been for years. You do not hear about people blowing up automotive u-joints. And I disagree that marine are very different. Same factories, same stuff.

Years ago, Timkin (sic) had bearing numbers (identification) engraved that allow gear heads like me to use and find "like" bearings. I assume U Joints as well... Now, since China makes everything, cross referencing may be a problem? I would not hesitate putting an auto Ujoint into a MC. If greased properly, more crap will fail on the MC before Ujoint fails. Just my 2cents...

 

[stormulus]

Serial number is in my freaking sig. This is getting ridiculous. Round and round the mulberry tree.

fair enough, I deserved that. I need to figure out how to view sigs on my phone so I can avoid this in the future.

 

[Mad Props]

I'm starting to think there was something weird going on with my setup... Not sure what I have and how I ended up with it, but something doesn't add up... I ended up buying both u joints, one of the 75832T1 and one of the 805536A2... I'm going to compare them to each other... maybe theres a chance the Moog ujoints I got originally were packaged wrong or something, but they definitely didn't fit...
Gonna see what the two of them look like next to each other... if they are different, then I don't know what to say because as you said the gear end yoke and center section share the same part number from 91 thru 97 so you would think the ujoints would have all been the same for that time frame (at least dimensionally)...

 

[stormulus]

I'm starting to think there was something weird going on with my setup... Not sure what I have and how I ended up with it, but something doesn't add up... I ended up buying both u joints, one of the 75832T1 and one of the 805536A2... I'm going to compare them to each other... maybe theres a chance the Moog ujoints I got originally were packaged wrong or something, but they definitely didn't fit...
Gonna see what the two of them look like next to each other... if they are different, then I don't know what to say because as you said the gear end yoke and center section share the same part number from 91 thru 97 so you would think the ujoints would have all been the same for that time frame (at least dimensionally)...

in the pics you overlaid in post #44, it looks like the caps on the upper one are a little shorter, which results in the clips being further apart as you noted. however a direct physical comparison of the two OEM u-joints will be interesting.

 

[Mad Props]

For what its worth... Here are the dimensions I got from the two different u-joints...
The first one is the 805536A2 u-joint. This is what is specified for certain 91-95 drives and all 96-97 drives.
The second image group is the 75832T1 (equivalent - couldn't find quicksilver brand in stock)... This is the u-joint specified for the other 91-95 drives. This is the u-joint that ended up fitting my drive after finding out the Moog315 joint didn't work...

The thing that really has me confused now is that the distance between snap ring grooves is only .010" different between the two. This makes me wonder if the original Moog 315 ujoints I tried to use were packaged wrong or something... The snap ring grooves were definitely more than .010" different when I tried to install them.

I dunno if this is worth adding this info to the ujoint sticky... It might help eliminate some of the confusion going forward...??

 

[Pruno]

fair enough, I deserved that. I need to figure out how to view sigs on my phone so I can avoid this in the future.

After seeing this I realized I wasn't seeing signatures when reading on my phone either. Tried to find the setting for that, which there isn't one. Rotated my phone to landscape view, and poof there they are.

 

[stormulus]

For what its worth... Here are the dimensions I got from the two different u-joints...
The first one is the 805536A2 u-joint. This is what is specified for certain 91-95 drives and all 96-97 drives.
The second image group is the 75832T1 (equivalent - couldn't find quicksilver brand in stock)... This is the u-joint specified for the other 91-95 drives. This is the u-joint that ended up fitting my drive after finding out the Moog315 joint didn't work...

The thing that really has me confused now is that the distance between snap ring grooves is only .010" different between the two. This makes me wonder if the original Moog 315 ujoints I tried to use were packaged wrong or something... The snap ring grooves were definitely more than .010" different when I tried to install them.

I dunno if this is worth adding this info to the ujoint sticky... It might help eliminate some of the confusion going forward...??

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thanks for doing this analysis. it seems to give more credence to the thought that the Moog 315G and other equivalent automotive u-joints were suggested as alternatives for both the 75832T1 (which is used on numerous drives back to the 70s, including both the alpha one and the earlier years of the alpha one gen 2) and the 805536A2 which is then used for alpha one gen 2 drives up until sometime in 2002. it was hard to tell for sure because the links within the u-joint sticky don't work, and although people mentioned what they had for a drive, their questions often referred to the links.

I think your testing of these two u-joints clears up a lot. thanks for doing this.

 

[stormulus]

After seeing this I realized I wasn't seeing signatures when reading on my phone either. Tried to find the setting for that, which there isn't one. Rotated my phone to landscape view, and poof there they are.

thanks for posting this info. I thought I would need to change a setting in my phone but couldn't find one. I usually read the threads here on my tablet or PC, but I was using my phone that time and never thought to rotate it.

you learn something every day
thanks!